The Chosen and the Unchosen
by coffeeaddict91
Summary: Starting right after Christmas fifth year, Harry recognizes the friend he could have in Neville. And, perhaps, maybe a bit more. Follows the basic story we know, but with eventual Harry/Neville Slash. Ginny/Harry will not happen. Don't like, don't read.
1. Chapter One

~~~Harry~~~

Harry stared at the ceiling, unwilling to close his eyes. Every time he did, he saw the attack in his mind. The attack he still felt responsible for, no matter how many times the others insisted he'd saved Arthur Weasley's life. They hadn't been there. They didn't know that it had been he who had attacked the man.

Especially now that he was back at Hogwarts, he couldn't get the memory out of his mind. He was afraid to sleep for fear of the same thing happening again. And this time, it could be any of his friends he attacked. He couldn't bear the thought of hurting someone else he cared about.

He heard the dormitory door open and he turned to look. It was Neville. Harry hadn't seen the other boy since that day in St. Mungos when the others had found out about Neville's parents. Harry had already known, of course, but the others hadn't. And Neville hadn't even known Harry knew about it.

"Hey, Neville," Harry said quietly, not wanting to wake the others.

~~~Neville~~~

Neville jumped slightly as he heard his name. He'd assumed everyone would be asleep by now. He hadn't wanted to see Harry or Ron, not after...

It wasn't that he had been actually hiding the story about his parents from the others. It had just... never seemed like the right time.

It had started out that he wanted to make friends of his own accord, not just because of the heros his parents had been. And that had never really happened. Sure, Harry spent much more time with him last year, but he was fully aware that that had only happened because he and Ron hadn't been talking to one another. And once that changed, Nevile was essentially alone once again. Not that he minded, he told himself frequently. Because that meant that there was one else to remind him what a failure he was.

Though this didn't help his feeling of loneliness. He'd hoped Harry would have remained his friend when he made up with Ron. And then, maybe, he'd have told him about his family. But no such luck. And now, they all knew. He was certain everyone did... Ron and Ginny weren't exactly known for keeping quiet.

"Oh. Hi, Harry," he answered in a whisper, closing the door quietly and sending a small smile to the boy who had once almost been his first friend. "Sorry if I woke you."

Harry sat up. "You didn't," he answered, just as quietly. "I wasn't asleep. What about you? Not like you to break curfew."

Neville glanced longingly at his bed, but instead moved over toward Harry's. If the other wanted to talk to him, he'd rather not wake the other three boys. "Just wasn't tired," Neville answered. "I was reading in the common room, that's all. I didn't break curfew."

Harry nodded, laying back down. "Oh. I didn't see you. Thought maybe you weren't back from Christmas yet." At Neville's silence, he shrugged. "Well... G'night then, mate," he said to Neville. He closed his eyes, pretending to be going to sleep.

Neville frowned slightly. "Yeah. Night, Harry," he said quietly. He turned away, going to his own bed. He pulled his pajamas out from under his pillow and headed into the bathroom to shower and dress for bed.

When he got back into the dormitory, he paused before climbing into bed, glancing at Harry's bed. He was gone.

Neville sighed, crawling under his blankets. Some things never changed.


	2. Chapter Two

~~~Harry~~~

A few more weeks went by, and Harry was able to push the memory far enough from his mind to be able to get some sleep. He had more important things on his mind anyway, primarily the DA and Umbridge. Umbridge was even worse, probably because they'd all left Hogwarts right under her nose. But as of yet, no one had caught on to the pattern of their meetings. Probably because there was no pattern to be caught onto. And to add on top of that, the teachers were giving more homework than ever... Harry was almost glad to have been banned from Quidditch. He would likely not have been able to find the time to play on top of everything else he had to do at the moment.

He went downstairs alone, not wanting to wake the others. Ron and Seamus were still snoring loudly, a good sign they'd probably sleep through the morning. But they had a free period first, so he wasn't concerned about them. Dean was gone, probably off snogging Ginny, he thought to himself with a sigh. A good thing, too. At least she'd moved on. And Neville's curtains were closed, so he wasn't sure if he was around or not. Though if he was asleep, Harry knew he'd hear his snores over the others... He pushed the thought from his mind as he descended the staircase toward the Great Hall.

Once inside, he scanned the Gryffindor table. Neville sat alone at one end. Harry started toward him, but frowned at the sight of Neville's face. He looked horrified about something, but Harry couldn't see anything wrong. A glance at the Slytherin table told him Malfoy and his cronies weren't around, so they couldn't have said anything to Neville.

"Hey, Nev," Harry said, dropping into the seat beside his friend. Neville didn't acknowledge him, just kept his eyes on the Daily Prophet opened on the table in front of him. Harry grew concerned... it wasn't like Neville to ignore him. He glanced over at the paper and he felt his heart stop.

_**Mass Breakout from AZKABAN**_

The front page was littered with moving photographs of the escaped Death Eaters. His eyes scanned the images, but there was no one that Harry recognized as important. Lestrange, Rookwood, Dolohov... None of the names meant anything to him apart from the obvious. His eyes narrowed as he read. They were blaming Sirius for the breakout. Of course they would blame him, they could hardly admit that Voldemort was back, could they? He scanned the page further, his fist clenching in anger as he read their lies.

_**We think it likely that these individuals, who include Black's cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange, have rallied around Black as their leader.**_

Lestrange. That's where he knew the name. Bellatrix Lestrange was Sirius's cousin. And worse... It was her fault that Neville had grown up without his parents. Harry swallowed hard, glancing at Neville again. His friend was pale, his hands clenched in his lap. Anyone walking by would probably not even notice anything was wrong. But Harry knew. He knew what it was like to be faced with a reminder of the person who'd taken his parents from him. He'd faced Voldemort last year. And now, Neville was faced with the same concept... that that person was free and capable of hurting more people.

~~~Neville~~~

Neville wasn't sure how long he'd sat there staring at the paper. He'd read it over at least twenty times, but still, the words refused to register in his mind. She had broken out. The person who he hated above all other people in the world... The woman who had taken his parents' minds from them... she was out of Azkaban. She'd broken out and joined her cousin, the madman responsible for thirteen muggle deaths.

Even if Neville hadn't believed Harry before, he would have had no choice now. Bellatrix Lestrange was free. Suddenly, he knew exactly why Harry had thrown himself so many times into harm's way over the years. Why his friend hadn't been able to just let the adults handle the capture of Sirius Black in their third year. He understood it perfectly now. Because he wanted nothing more than to hunt down that woman and make her pay for what she'd done to his family. He didn't care that he was practically useless at magic, that he was only fifteen, that someone else would catch her before he got the chance... He wanted to be the one to bring her to justice. And he didn't particularly care if he died trying.

He read through the page again, his eyes flitting over the other names. They were irrelevant to him, but he memorized them anyway. Because they worked with her. And that made them Neville's enemies as well. Neville reached one hand into his pocket at touched the DA coin he kept there. He knew that if there was any way for him to be able to fight when the time came, he would have to work harder in the DA meetings. He knew it was the only way. He would make his family proud, once and for all.

Neville jumped as a hand landed on his shoulder. He looked up in alarm, his fingers clenching around his father's wand in his pocket beside the coin, but was surprised to see Harry sitting beside him.

"Alright, mate?" Harry asked quietly. He knew the answer was no. How could it be anything else?

But Neville surprised him by closing the paper. "They'll have to believe you now," he said quietly. "That You-Know-Who is back. They'll have to. There's no other explanation."

"Seems they've found one, though, haven't they?" Harry said sarcastically, pulling his hand back again.

"Sirius Black, you mean?" Neville asked, glancing up at Harry again. "But he wouldn't have been able to break out that many people without help. Powerful help." He frowned as Harry glared at the newspaper. "Or am I missing something?" he asked, lowering his voice more.

"It's nothing," Harry answered, not willing to tell Neville about Sirius's innocence. It wasn't that he didn't trust Neville... But he had to be careful. Especially since he was said to be aligning himself with Bellatrix Lestrange. It was unlikely Neville would believe it.

"Did you get breakfast yet?" Harry asked, changing the subject.

Neville's face fell. He could tell Harry was hiding something big. But, as usual, he was kept out of it. Though he supposed he couldn't blame Harry for not trusting him. They weren't exactly close. "I'm not hungry," Neville answered, shrugging. "The paper came before I ate. And... and now I just feel sick."

Harry nodded slowly. "Are you okay, Nev?" he asked quietly. He'd never talked to Neville about his family before. He wasn't sure how to bring it up.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Neville asked, not looking at him. He didn't know how much Harry knew about his parents. His grandmother had told him and Ron and the others right before Christmas. But Lestrange's name hadn't come up in that conversation.

Harry just nodded, not wanting to pry into Neville's personal space any more than he already had. He knew he hated talking about his own parents' deaths. He doubted Neville would appreciate it either. "Well... See you then," Harry said, standing up. He wasn't hungry either. And... he wanted to send a letter to Sirius. He could make it cryptic enough, he was sure.

"See you," Neville answered, dropping his gaze to the tabletop. But when Harry had started to walk away, Neville watched him walk away. He wished he had been brave enough to say more. He needed to get some of it off of his chest. But he had no one to turn to. His grandmother had sent him the paper rather than conveying the information in a letter. Which told Neville that she wasn't taking it well either, but that she wouldn't admit it. She was too strongwilled to admit sadness or fear.

But in reality... Neville knew she was as terrified as he was. And as he watched Harry go, he knew the only person who could probably understand what he was feeling right now was Harry. And Neville was too much of a coward to talk to him about any of it.

He sighed, standing up as well and heading out into the grounds. He headed toward the greenhouses, hoping Professor Sprout would let him help her with something. Anything to take his mind off of the news of that morning.


	3. Chapter Three

~~~Harry~~~

Harry pushed past Malfoy, determined to get back to the castle. He didn't want to deal with another argument with the blonde over his naming so many people as Death Eaters in the article in the Quibbler. He was glad people were reading his interview, of course. But it just brought more attention to him. He and Cho were still not speaking to one another, seemingly she wasn't willing to forgive him for... whatever he had done wrong during their date. He had yet to figure out just how he had upset her, but... he supposed girls were just complicated.

In Herbology the next day, Professor Sprout was determinedly happy while telling them about the Venemous Tentacula. For the head of Hufflepuff house, she seemed entirely too excited over a plant that could eat a person. Ron and Hermione paired up together, so Harry partnered with Neville. Neville was still acting strangely, barely speaking to anyone at all. While this wasn't necessarily abnormal, as Neville was never one to start conversations, Harry had never seen him quite this quiet before. And he knew what it was about. Neville was still thinking about the Azkaban breakout.

"Could one of you hand me that watering can?" Professor Sprout asked them, and Harry scooped up the can, noticing that Neville hadn't moved. "Excellent! Twenty points to Gryffindor! Now..."

Harry stopped listening but grinned. Yet another teacher was giving him points for nothing. Another teacher showing that they believed his story about Voldemort, and going against Umbridge in the only way they could. He turned to grin at Neville, but he could tell his friend wasn't paying attention. He wasn't even pretending to do so, which was very uncommon for him, especially in Herbology. He remembered from fourth year that it was Neville's favorite subject... so why wasn't he even listening to the professor?

~~~Neville~~~

Neville stared at the Venemous Tentacula, stroking its leaves absently. Anyone else would likely be bitten for doing this, but the plants were used to him by now. He'd been spending so much extra time in the greenhouses lately that several of the plants seemed to know him by touch. It was the only thing he was good at, really. And it felt good to be good at something. Especially now.

He looked up as Professor Sprout loudly thanked Harry for the watering can, and he shook himself out of his daze. He was glad Harry had spoken out at last about He Who Must Not Be Named. The more people that knew he was back, the better. Because people would prepare themselves, rather than just go around as if everything was okay when it wasn't. But at the same time... Harry had just earned more points from Professor Sprout than Neville had earned all year. So yet again, someone else was taking the spotlight away from Neville.

It wasn't that he wanted the spotlight, not at all. But it would be nice to be noticed for something good for a change. After class, Neville packed up slowly, letting the others get ahead of him. He just wanted to be alone for a while before the DA meeting that evening. He followed the group up to the common room and sat by the window with a book. He wasn't reading, but he didn't want anyone thinking something was wrong with him. He would rather appear to be reading.

A small sound caused Neville to look up, and he smiled. His toad was at his feet looking at him. He leaned over and scooped up Trevor, laying the toad in his lap. "Where've you been?" he asked quietly, stroking the toad's back with one finger. "Haven't seen you since Christmas."

He heard a couple of nearby sixth year girls laugh and looked up. They were looking directly at him. He flushed, realizing that they were laughing at him. He dropped his eyes back to his lap, pretending not to have noticed them. He grabbed his book again, pretending to be reading so maybe they would leave him alone.

* * *

Harry dropped into a chair beside Ron in Transfiguration, a grin on his face. Cho was talking to him! She'd even called him brave! He practiced over and over again, not quite getting the hang of the vanishing spell he was attempting. Ron was doing no better, but Hermione had already moved on from the piece of chalk that they were vanishing and was working on a mouse.

A bang from beside him made him jump and look to his right. Neville's chalk had somehow caught fire. He was apologizing profusely as Professor McGonagall put out the flames. "It's Evanesco, Longbottom! Not Incendio!"

Neville flushed. "Sorry, Professor," he muttered, looking defeated.

"I think we can leave it there for today," Professor McGonagall said, looking around the room. "Everyone is to practice until they're able to do it properly. I'll be testing all of you next lesson. You are dismissed."

Neville rushed from the room, not wanting to stay longer than necessary and hear someone comment on his performance again. He got down the hall a bit and ducked into what he knew to be a secret passage. It was the only place he knew of that he could be alone, apart from the Room of Requirement. And he didn't want to go all the way up there.

He drew his wand and just stood there, staring at it. Why couldn't he do any type of magic properly? What was wrong with him? He could do magic, he'd proven that much. But why was it so hard for him to pick up new things?

At the end of class, Harry made to catch up to Neville, since he could tell how upset his friend was, but he was stopped by Seamus, who apologized and told Harry that he believed him about Voldemort. He got caught up in talking to Seamus that he forgot all about trying to catch Neville. And by the time he remembered, he was nearly back to the common room already. He shrugged it off. If Neville had wanted to talk about the breakout or anything since then, he'd have done so.

He went up to the dorm and dumped his bag on top of his trunk, lying down on his bed with the Marauder's Map. He scanned it, looking to see where Umbridge was. She was in her office. Good. He grinned. He would go for a walk on the grounds, then. He scanned the map again, looking for Filch, but something else caught his eye.

A dot labeled Neville Longbottom was rushing off down the hall, closely followed by three other dots. And these dots were steadily catching up to him. He doubted Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle meant only to talk. He changed his mind quickly, standing back up and heading out of the dorm and leaving the common room. He couldn't let Malfoy attack Neville, not if he could do anything about it.

He went down several flights of stairs before glancing at the map again. Neville was alone a few corridors away. The other three were gone. He hoped that was a good sign. But as he got closer, he heard the telltale sounds of crying.

"Mischief Managed," Harry whispered, wiping the map and shoving it and his wand into his pocket. "Neville?" he called out to his friend.


End file.
